Mercedes tests 'triple DRS' at Magny Cours(GMM) Mercedes gave its new 'triple DRS' system a second outing at Magny Cours on Tuesday.

During the recent Belgian grand prix weekend, we reported that the German squad had upped the ante on its innovative 'double DRS' concept of 2012 by testing what could be described as a 'triple DRS' iteration.

Mercedes pioneered the straight-line speed-boosting idea, but at recent grands prix Lotus has been trying to get a development of the concept up and running.

The 'triple DRS' is Mercedes' answer to the Lotus development.

Asked how it works, team boss Ross Brawn smiled at Spa: "We'll leave that up to everyone's imagination."

Auto Motor und Sport explained that the system is able to shed drag from three separate areas simultaneously, at both the front and the rear of the single seater.

"Neither in Spa nor at Magny Cours was the system complete," read the German report.

As the young driver test kicked off at Magny Cours on Tuesday, test driver Sam Bird was at the wheel of the updated W03, also featuring a new 'Coanda' exhaust for the first time.

The F1 grapevine is currently alight with speculation the 2008 world champion - who flirted with Red Bull until the energy drink-owned team re-confirmed its existing lineup for next season - is about to jump ship to Mercedes.

Boss Horner told Austrian television Servus TV he is relieved Red Bull is not caught up in the rumors.

"But it is interesting to look at all the games and see who will be sitting in the seats when the music stops," the Briton reportedly said.

"If you believe Eddie Jordan then Hamilton's going, and if you believe Bernie, then Schumacher is going back to retirement," said Horner.

"As always there's a lot of talk, but when the music does stop, I don't think much will have changed," he insisted.

Former F1 driver Christian Danner agrees with Horner that his "gut feeling" is that Hamilton will stay put.

"The Hamilton story is about his position at McLaren -- about how he can market himself to the world and what rights he gets.

"But if he listens to his racing heart, he will stay at McLaren, where he has the best chance to be world champion again. Period," he added.

Three-time world champion Lauda, 63, was referring to the alternator failures that cost Vettel victory at Valencia, and valuable points last weekend at Monza.

"An error can occur, but it needs to be fixed immediately and must not occur again," insisted Lauda.

Vettel is now 39 points behind championship leader Fernando Alonso, meaning he needs to score an average of 5.6 points per race more than the Spaniard to win in 2012.

"Theoretically the championship is not lost for Vettel," said Lauda, "but in practice (it is) ...

"Alonso is clearly on course for the title, Ferrari is very consistent," he added.

Lauda also acknowledged that McLaren has the best car at the moment.

"They have the strongest car, and their speed of development is also the best," he said.

Kaltenborn: Urgent need for F1 cost-cuttingSauber are the latest team to stress that Formula 1 must lower its running costs as soon as possible. Last week, FIA President Jean Todt emphasized that the sport could lose some of its smaller teams should the budgetary concerns not be addressed swiftly.

After Max Mosley’s idea of a budget cap fell through when several manufacturers conspired against it in 2009, the teams’ spending is now dictated by the Resource Restriction Agreement (RRA), however this policy has been criticized on numerous occasions. F1 governing body the FIA is attempting to police the RRA for future years, but Red Bull are against the idea.

Monisha Kaltenborn, CEO of the Sauber F1 Team “There is an urgent need for action on this issue,” Monisha Kaltenborn, CEO and future Team Principal of Sauber, says on Wednesday. “For the majority of the teams in Formula 1 the financial challenges are huge. The Sauber F1 Team is very much in favor of introducing measures to push down costs further still.

“First and foremost, we hope that the Resource Restriction Agreement will be implemented and monitored effectively from 2013 onwards. It is also important that engine costs from 2014 are kept at a sensible level for the privately-run teams.

“A constructive move here would be to draw up a roadmap setting out the direction of technical development over a period of several years. That would make planning easier and reduce costs substantially.”

The RRA will remain a hot topic between teams on the run-up to 2013.

Pirelli announces tires through Indian GPPirelli has announced its tire nominations for the Japanese, Korean and Indian Grands Prix.

The Formula 1 tire supplier said it will take the hard and soft rubbers to the Suzuka race, the 15th round of the championship.

The same compounds will be used in India.

For Korea, Pirelli has chosen the soft and super soft compounds, the same that will be used in the Singapore Grand Prix next weekend.

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